Miko Miyazaki
Miko Miyazaki was a Paladin of the Sapphire Guard of Azure City, and was known to be its most zealous member. She was the primary antagonist of the second book, No Cure for the Paladin Blues. History Early Life Miko's father's name was Eyko,Comic #374, "Black and Blue" a member of a noble family of Azure City. Her parents died to unknown causes when Miko was at an young age. She was later taken in by monks of a dojo and was raised in a monastery.Comic #209, "Multiclass Discrimination" When she was thirteen years old, she was selected to be trained as a Paladin of the elite Sapphire Guard, an organization sworn to protect Soon's Gate. How the Paladin Got His Scar Before becoming a paladin, Miko was an Acolyte of the Sapphire Guard serving under Commander Gin-Jun. During that time, the Guard was searching for the Crimson Mantle in hobgoblin settlements; Gin-Jun's policy of indiscriminately killing all hobgoblins in his way resulted in provoking hobgoblin attacks on Azure City territory. Gin-Jun taught Miko that hobgoblins were usually Evil, and that those who technically weren't were still supporting an Evil society; he encouraged her to never hesitate to punish Evil, support for Evil, or tolerance for Evil. When Captain O-Chul of the Azurite army attempted to block the Sapphire Guard from entering the main hobgoblin settlement, in an attempt to avoid any more needless violence, Miko fought him to a standstill until Saha Kapoor flooded the Guard's path with water from the hobgoblins' reservoir, forcing them to retreat. Later, Miko, along with the rest of the Sapphire Guard, was present for Gin-Jun's gyeoltu (duel of honor) with O-Chul. When Zhou Bo stepped in Gin-Jun's way to protect an unarmed and wounded O-Chul, Gin-Jun struck her with his katana — after which Miko sneaked from behind and snapped his neck, her motivation being that "the woman was not part of the duel". After the matter with the hobgoblins was resolved diplomatically, and O-Chul was inducted into the Sapphire Guard by Lord Shojo, Miko met O-Chul and Hinjo in a bar. When she asked O-Chul why he decided to join the Sapphire Guard despite the Guard's animosity towards him as a commoner, he gave her a long speech, outlining his motivation to do whatever he could do to align the Guard with his conscience. Miko interpreted his argument as saying that if someone betrayed Azure City, it would be their job to stop the traitor with whatever means they had at their disposal.How the Paladin Got His Scar Dungeon Crawlin' Fools Miko first appeared in the final strip of the first book, a foreshadowing of her mission to capture the Order of the Stick. No Cure for the Paladin Blues Meeting the Order Lord Shojo sent Miko on a mission to capture the Order of the Stick and bring to Azure City so they could stand trial for their "crimes" (really an elaborate plot conceived by Lord Shojo and Eugene Greenhilt to enlist the services of the Order). She endured 80 Comic Strips' worth of travel, including a montage sequence, in order to get to the Order, and managed to subdue them within a few rounds due to unfair conditions and being a much higher level. Miko then "escorted" the Order to Azure City. Shortly after they arrived at Azure City, the Order was put on trial, while Miko chased Belkar around the whole palace after he escaped from his confinement and murdered a guard. Eventually, the two combatants crashed through a window. Before Miko could kill Belkar, Vaarsuvius hit her with a Scorching Ray, and proceeded to tell Miko that, even though V hated Belkar, V still preferred him to Miko. Miko then began to fight against the entire Order, until Shojo intervened. War and XPs Shortly before the New Year's Celebrations, Miko was sent by Lord Shojo to carry a message to the Dwarven Kingdom (the message being a letter written by Durkon Thundershield, requesting to return home). On the way back to Azure City she ran into Redcloak and Xykon, who were marching ahead of their hobgoblin army to disable the Azure City magic early warning beacons. Miko escaped, but Xykon was able to use some stray hairs from the package she dropped (which contained the reply from the Dwarven High Priest of Thor), in order to scry on her. Miko's Downfall Miko quickly returned to Azure City to warn Lord Shojo about the coming invasion, but she and Hinjo overheard Lord Shojo talking to Roy Greenhilt. After hearing Lord Shojo confess that he was faking senility and working behind the backs of the Sapphire Guard to circumvent Soon's oath, she jumped to the conclusion that he and the Order of the Stick are in league with Xykon and the Hobgoblins, and sliced Lord Shojo in two. This action caused her to be struck down by the 12 Gods and turned her into a fallen paladin. She then battled with Roy, then with Hinjo in order to escape. She almost killed Hinjo, but Roy stepped in. She was then taken to prison. There she met Belkar again, and was outraged at his presence. She and Sabine shared a short conversation, where Sabine tried to turn her into a blackguard. In response, Miko broke Sabine's neck, which did nothing but irritate Sabine. During the Battle of Azure City, she was seen meditating several times, and was also seen when the Grand Larceny Prisoner's poisoned arrow bounced off the wall of the prison. Later, while praying to the Twelve Gods, she saw an almost unnoticeable crack in one of the bars. She used this to her advantage, and kicked the bar several times, breaking it in half. She made her way to the throne room of the palace, killing several hobgoblins in the process, including Jirix. She entered the throne room, and saw Xykon fighting the ghost-martyrs of the Sapphire Guard. She noticed O-Chul standing in front of the throne, still frozen by Xykon. She walked up the steps and took O-Chul's katana, and prepared to shatter the sapphire. Soon Kim's ghost noticed this, and, horrified, attempted to tell Miko that she did not need to do this. Xykon quickly escaped with Redcloak, and Miko, not hearing Soon, shattered the sapphire, as well as the throne, obliterating the palace. Later, Miko is shown, charred and injured, lying against some of the rubble. She saw Soon's ghost, and said that he could still destroy Xykon and Redcloak. Soon told her that when she destroyed the sapphire, she removed the one thing keeping the ghost-martyrs tied to the mortal plane. He also told her that Miko fulfilled the duty she was given by the Twelve Gods by destroying the Gate, thus rendering it unable to be used by evil forces. Miko asked if this meant she could become a paladin again, but Soon said that while she fulfilled her duties as a paladin, she had not redeemed herself, as she never admitted she was wrong in the first place, even to herself. Miko weakly asked if she would see Windstriker again. Soon told her that Windstriker may visit her. Miko said that was good enough for her. While the scene panned out, it was shown that Miko's body split at the waist when she fell, fatally injuring her. She then died, unbeknownst to the Order, though Haley and Belkar both find this out later (and forget due to the Memory Charm, though Roy remembered). After Xykon conquered Azure City, Tsukiko came across Miko's body, but did not turn her into an undead, saying she needed both halves of the body, and that she might not have been a powerful undead anyway. Utterly Dwarfed Miko appeared once in a flashback during the Northern Godsmoot. Personality and Traits She was a self-righteous, arrogant, confrontational person that often irritated anyone who interacted with her, even her fellow paladins. One of the other paladins of the Sapphire Guard once asked the OoTS "Why do you think that she is so often sent on missions far from Azure City?" The creator, Rich Burlew, has made the comment that Miko is one of the worst ways to play a paladin. However, some of Miko's early behaviour, such as rescuing the King of Somewhere from a burning building, was arguably heroic. Powers and Abilities .]] Miko was the most powerful of the paladins of the Sapphire Guard, and was able to easily defeat the Order when they first clashed (although it should be noted that Roy was armed with only a club, most of the Order was disadvantaged due to a sudden rain storm, and Durkon refused to take part of the fight). Later Miko again defeats them under similar conditions, although Roy comments that it was caused by the "stupid rail-road storyline". Even as a fallen paladin Miko still manages to handily defeat Hinjo, the second most powerful member of the Saphire Guard, but is then handily defeated by Roy, then armed with his improved sword. She also managed to take down Redcloak in a match-up that was humorously watched by Xykon, MiTD, and the Demon Cockroaches. She later decapitated Jirix by kicking his head off, killing him, with enough force that his head killed another hobgoblin in front of him, then immediately killing another with a swift karate chop. As a paladin, Miko had all the powers of one, had impressive martial-arts skills from her training as a monk, and would often use her mount, Windstriker, or certain items in tandem with her own abilities, making her a formidable opponent. As a fallen paladin, Miko was reduced to her abilities as a monk, but was still dangerous and crafty and managed to change the course of the entire battle of Azure City by inadvertently saving Xykon and Redcloak's lives and destroying the Gate. Weapons and Equipment *'Katana' *'Wakizashi' *'Magic boots' *'Cloak and armor' Trivia * A miko is a Japanese term literally meaning "shaman woman." * "Miyazaki" is a city in southern Japan. Miyazaki is also a surname of famous Anime animator, director and producer—Hayao Miyazaki * Miko's last words were: "I can live with that." Statistics * Total number of appearances: 69. * First appearance: #120, "The End of the Beginning". Her next appearance is 54 comics later, in #174, "Interlude of Dooooooom!". * Death: #464, "Not for Everyone" * Latest appearance: #1024, "The Unbanished Truth", in a flashback to her mission to the Dwarven Lands. Her last non-flashback appearance is #465, "No One Likes a Tattletale". Gallery Very cross Miko.gif Miko gray.jpg|Miko, immediately after becoming a fallen paladin. Cloaked Miko.PNG|Cloaked Miko. References Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Dead Characters Category:Lawful Good Characters Category:Lawful Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Females Category:Paladins Category:Monks Category:Sapphire Guard Category:Inhabitants of Azure City